[The thing is, many would find this a humorous joke. I can’t laugh through because honestly he nailed it.

I did see something else interesting last night on the news. A man was eager to get people who lost family in the Oso mudslide in front of state legislators to push for more logging regulations. He even stated while we don’t have the facts currently, we do have emotional support and hopefully that should be enough for emergency measures.

Excuse me? I swear people would rather live in a world governed by emotion instead of reason and logic. They’d rather live by their feelings and intuition even if all facts, logic, and reason proved those things to be false.

Where did everyone go and how the hell can I get off the crazy train? -B]

Barron is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.

He has a BS in electrical engineering from Washington State University. Immediately after college he went into work on embedded software and hardware for use in critical infrastructure. This included cryptographic communications equipment as well as command and control devices that were using that communications equipment. Since then he’s worked on just about everything ranging from toys, phones, other critical infrastructure, and even desktop applications. Doing everything from hardware system design, to software architecture, to actually writing software that makes your athletic band do its thing.

About Barron

Barron is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms.
He has a BS in electrical engineering from Washington State University. Immediately after college he went into work on embedded software and hardware for use in critical infrastructure. This included cryptographic communications equipment as well as command and control devices that were using that communications equipment. Since then he’s worked on just about everything ranging from toys, phones, other critical infrastructure, and even desktop applications. Doing everything from hardware system design, to software architecture, to actually writing software that makes your athletic band do its thing.

3 Responses to Quote of the Day – Lyle (5/12/2014)

Haven’t we been told all our lives; “Follow your heart. Don’t let anyone discourage you from pursuing your dreams” and suchlike? Well, some people simply took the advice without understanding it or without any moral foundation.

“Where did everyone go and how the hell can I get off the crazy train?”

Well, my friend; Ozzy certainly identified the problem, as did those in Pink Floyd and many others. Though they were aware of the problem, they don’t seem to have explored the solution. Like gravity, it’s a constant in the universe.

Tired of the Crazy Train? Just step off and let it run on without you. Watch the light that’s coming into your eyes, take a breath, smell the coffee so to speak. Being able to live IN the world but not be OF the world, not be taken over by its little (or big) irritations, is the key. Just watch it. When something irritating presents itself, just look at it. “Hmm. That would normally irritate the hell out of me. Interesting it is that I don’t have to be irritated by it in the usual sense…” Watch it, and the irritation simply goes away. It cannot stand up to detached discernment. Same with headaches and other little pains and inconveniences.

Being on the Crazy Train is like being in quick sand– The more you struggle with it, the more you fight it, the faster you sink.

Just as you are able to react to an on-coming car in your lane, instantly and without discussion, planning or rumination, or a slow down to miss a deer that runs out in front of you, or experience a thunder storm or a flat tire, without getting pissed off at it and tortured by it, so to will you be able to react to societal emergencies or stupid evil people in person, tripping over the cat or being denied sex when you were really looking forward to it, without the situation taking control of your emotions and causing those emotions to eat away at you until you’re pulling your hair out, having a heart attack, drinking to excess, yelling at people, losing sleep or coming down with some other emotional/stress-related disease.

Just one little tiny example from this evening while I was working on a new wooden terrace for my yard, to plant flowers in for my wife. I’m using treated 4 x 4s, which are normally plenty strong. I’d been delayed by several other things popping up at the last minute from the kids and such, and by a couple design changes along the way, so I’m now two days late in getting this “simple” job done. Two extra trips for more lumber, and so I figure that THIS will be the evening I get the thing done and shovel the dirt back in. Only one of the new 4 x 4s split clean in two with little more than its own weight as I was placing it position.

In the previous 50 some years of my regular life I would have been really pissed. “God damn, Mother. Fucking. SHIT!! Those ignorant twits sold me a piece of shit board.” I would hold on to the anger all night and into the next morning, whereupon I would have gone into the building supply and made sure they felt bad about selling me shit. Everyone within earshot would have thought me a mean, unpleasant bastard for it too. And they’d be right. That’s what most people close to me think of me still, because that’s the sort of thing I often did– shuffle off my lack of planning and general impatience onto the situation, or onto people nearby so as to defray guilt or justify frustration and acting out. Then I’d feel bad about it afterward and it could get worse with time.

Now the reaction was totally different. The immediate reaction was, “Hmm, well if that don’t beat all. Look at that shrinkage crack going right through the board. It’s a marvel that that board made it all the way through the saw mill, the planner, kiln, stacking, shipping, unloading, stacking in the local warehouse, reloading and all the way to my work site in one piece.” Strange things happen. So I glued it, clamped it, put some screws across the crack, and worked on other parts of the project while it set up. When it’s installed it will be doubled up with another 4 x 4 as part of the design, and it’ll be completely OK. I was in a hurry to get home so I didn’t inspect that board closely as I know I should have done, but it’s a very small issue any way you look at it. I’m still amazed it didn’t snap as I was rough-handling it into the pickup. Curious and kind of funny.

I don’t mean to brag, please, but to contrast the Crazy Train response (which has consumed much of my life) with a more proper response to the situation. Same goes for the more serious issues too. “My mother has cancer? Hmm. Not good. Looks like I’ll be taking a week or two off here and there to go and be with her. What else can I do? Not much except help without asking anything or wanting anything in return. Just be there. Take it one day at a time. The last thing I want is people thinking about MY problems when SHE is the one with cancer. That’s it then. The wife and kids will have to understand and deal with things as best they can while I’m gone. They can handle it. Stock up on food and things first.” And so on.

That was last summer. Mom was afraid. We siblings took turns being there to help around the house, the lawn and garden, and to drive her to where she needed to be for treatment and such. And wait. Now she seems to be doing OK, for an 85 year-old who’s taking care of a feral 8 year-old. She was nearly in tears as I was leaving after a week or so at her place once. I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled, not because I thought it was the right thing to do, out of planning or technique or anything, but because it came naturally, because I saw the fear in her and wanted to show her that it could be simply let go. She lightened up and started breathing normally. Like irritation, freedom can be contagious.

Detached discernment. You see a lot more that way, and sooner, and far less of it gets to you. It’s the only way we’re going to survive this crap.

That’s my story. I suppose it would piss off some people, but I’m sticking to to.

Barron Barnett/(The Minuteman Blog) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.